|
BurningBeard
The IncomparableMr. Flannery

Registered: 01/23/08
Posts: 327
Loc: The bottom of the bottle.
|
When I was your age...
#7981619 - 02/05/08 07:29 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
|
|
On occasion, I'll watch my friends' kids after they get home from school, if I'm available for the job. I've been doing this off and on over the past five or six months, and it's made me do some thinking about the generational gap between myself and them.
I grew up in the thick of the gaming generation. I had an NES when I was a kid. I played my fair share of video games. But I did not grow up with the internet. That came later in life for me, long after I'd started my later years of middle school and on. So, needless to say, though I embraced the gaming culture at a very young age, I had other facets of the world around me to keep me busy. I played cops and robbers, hide and seek, tag, all of the favorite pastimes of little munchkins whose worries are largely concerned with that extra cookie or nap time.
These kids do no such thing. They get home from school, get on their laptops, and vanish for the entire three and a half hours I'm with them. I hate to sound like an overly-concerned stuffy old person, because I'm definitely not, but this really bugs me. What ever happened to the kiddie games? What ever happened to playing outside and... you know... moving? I guess, despite my relative youth in the grand scheme of things it's kinda making me feel mortal, in a way. I have to wonder though, just what will growing up with such bountiful amounts of tech all around them will do to their character, their work ethic, and their sense of self. I'm not saying they're doomed, but it makes me wonder. Anybody else seeing this stuff? I guess with this kind of shit all around it's no wonder we have a problem with child obesity.
-------------------- Daedalus, your child is falling and the Labyrinth is calling. Renegade heaps, humanity abandoned Bower of the vowels, you lit them and fanned them. Mercury, the courier, celestial messenger Bed with Dawn, your bride. Arrowhead of Diane, pierce the mind of a man, Tongueless muse of time
|
lessthanzero77
seeker



Registered: 11/26/07
Posts: 79
Loc: Anytown, USA
|
Re: When I was your age... [Re: BurningBeard]
#7981665 - 02/05/08 07:56 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
BurningBeard said: I have to wonder though, just what will growing up with such bountiful amounts of tech all around them will do to their character, their work ethic, and their sense of self.
How old are these kids? I work with several guys who graduated high school less than a year ago, and for the most part, their collective work ethic is pure shit (lots of time spent staring at their iPhones, iPods, etcetera, instead of actually working) and their character is non-existant (i.e., they each seem very much like the same person). And of course, not all their behavior can be attributed to technology, but I definitely think we'll begin seeing long-term negative effects of this technological surge within the next decade.
|
manyc
♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫


Registered: 01/03/04
Posts: 571
Loc: Axis Mundi
|
|
Yeah.. the computer is a kid's best friend these days, it is sad. I'll tell you one thing.. my son's usage of the computer when he can use it (he's only a week old right now heh) will be incredibly limited. And monitored. I'm going to make sure he's an active little kid - climbing trees and whatnot. What kids really love, and need to do.
I'm going to try my best not to turn into an apathetic parent who uses a computer to baby-sit their kids because they don't care enough to spend time with them. It's very important to let your kids know that they are important enough for you to spend time with them... instead of buying them toys to distract themselves with. Granted, things like toys and computers can stmulate your mind... but when you overuse them they just dull your brain and your self.
They say using e-mail is more damaging that smoking pot. That's great, haha.. and I don't doubt it. It's mainly for those of us who obsessively check our inboxes.. I'll admit, sometimes I'm like that when I'm uber bored.
"Research by King's College London says addiction to email is doubly worrying because such technology depletes cognitive abilities more rapidly than drugs."
--------------------
Hemp could Save the World. "There is no flag that is large enough, to hide the shame of a man in cuffs." -Serj Tankian Know Thyself. "If the words 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' don't include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp it was written on." -Terence Mckenna
|
BurningBeard
The IncomparableMr. Flannery

Registered: 01/23/08
Posts: 327
Loc: The bottom of the bottle.
|
|
Brian, the younger, is 8. Baird, the elder, is 11.
Brian exhibits pretty normal rowdy kid features... but his older brother just ... wants to sit on his ass. And thus, Brian gets sucked in too.
This weather right now doesn't help either... but even on nice days it's the same damn thing.
When a computer can do it for you, why do it yourself?
Shit, Baird just got a WoW account... not two days after their mom and I were shootin' the shit about how they don't need so much comp time. I worry for that child's social life.
I'm not a parent, but if I were I'd be taking those comps away from those kids asap.
-------------------- Daedalus, your child is falling and the Labyrinth is calling. Renegade heaps, humanity abandoned Bower of the vowels, you lit them and fanned them. Mercury, the courier, celestial messenger Bed with Dawn, your bride. Arrowhead of Diane, pierce the mind of a man, Tongueless muse of time
|
kit_kat
Vixen



Registered: 01/05/06
Posts: 249
|
Re: When I was your age... [Re: BurningBeard]
#7981723 - 02/05/08 08:31 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
|
|
Man, I can't imagine what it would be like to be a kid and not spend hours outside playing ridiculous games. I grew up playing cops and robbers, capture the flag, and all those other games with the boys in our neighbourhood.
--------------------
|
Irdamage
Autobot


Registered: 11/19/05
Posts: 1,491
Loc: Canada
Last seen: 7 years, 1 month
|
Re: When I was your age... [Re: kit_kat]
#7981782 - 02/05/08 08:55 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
manyc said: "Research by King's College London says addiction to email is doubly worrying because such technology depletes cognitive abilities more rapidly than drugs."
Odd...A friend of mine is taking an undergraduate course there.
Your not the only one to have these worrying thoughts. I grew up just on the verge of the internet's massive boom. I remember the public school systems having computers for a few rooms at best and certainly not a massive computer lab. We used them as most children did, for games to pass the free time in class that we couldn't spend playing hockey at recess.
A lot of kids today have similar if not more social anxiety problems and issues facing them than we did at our age, the only difference is that todays advances in technology and production gives millions of children a little box that can give them a fantasy world in which they can escape reality.
|
circularvortex
Bass Head




Registered: 08/31/06
Posts: 12,148
Loc:
Last seen: 4 months, 30 days
|
Re: When I was your age... [Re: Irdamage]
#7981789 - 02/05/08 08:59 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
|
|
I got pretty into computers and such in my teenage years and spent a good deal of time on them. 8 and 11 is way, way young, though.
And wtf, slap that woman for introducing another pre-pubescent boy to the world of online gaming. No WoW or xbox live until you are 14 at the LEAST I say.
That's just one more shrill little voice going, "SHUT UP FAGGIT!"
-------------------- No statements made in any post or message by myself should be construed to mean that I am now, or have ever been, participating in or considering participation in any activities in violation of any local, state, federal, or fashion police laws. All posts are works of fiction. For well you know that its a fool who plays it cool By making his world a little colder. Under closer inspection I realised it was a funky ball of tits from outer space.
 
|
BurningBeard
The IncomparableMr. Flannery

Registered: 01/23/08
Posts: 327
Loc: The bottom of the bottle.
|
Re: When I was your age... [Re: Irdamage]
#7981813 - 02/05/08 09:09 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
|
|
I'm down with a little escapism.I am a gamer at heart after all. At the right dosage it can be helpful, even theraputic. However, when it becomes a coping strategy... that's where things start to blur. Both kids have had odd pasts. Baird is April's, Brian is Greg's. Baird didn't have any boundaries in his other home environment. Brian had too many. It's almost like they crave the escapism because they're ill-equipped to handle reality. That's scary. Now I'm just playing the part of armchair psychologist.
-------------------- Daedalus, your child is falling and the Labyrinth is calling. Renegade heaps, humanity abandoned Bower of the vowels, you lit them and fanned them. Mercury, the courier, celestial messenger Bed with Dawn, your bride. Arrowhead of Diane, pierce the mind of a man, Tongueless muse of time
|
BurningBeard
The IncomparableMr. Flannery

Registered: 01/23/08
Posts: 327
Loc: The bottom of the bottle.
|
|
Quote:
circularvortex said: I got pretty into computers and such in my teenage years and spent a good deal of time on them. 8 and 11 is way, way young, though.
And wtf, slap that woman for introducing another pre-pubescent boy to the world of online gaming. No WoW or xbox live until you are 14 at the LEAST I say.
That's just one more shrill little voice going, "SHUT UP FAGGIT!"
ROFL!
Yeah man, I got into them too. I still am, and I won't deny that the computer, when friends aren't around, takes up a lot of my time. But I don't feel socially stunted because of it.
As for introducing him to WoW... that wasn't really her doing, He's been gunning for it. She just caved. 
Fortunately, he's a sweet natured kid that won't likely conduct himself like that.
While I won't say that conduct of the young online crowd isn't an issue, I will say that it's not the issue at hand. I could care less how he conducts himself online. I care that he conducts himself well in real life, that he conducts himself at all in real life. He never even talks about friends at school or anything. Getting him to talk about school to begin with is like pulling out someone's pubes with a pair of pliars. It hurts a lot, and in the end the work you're doing won't lead you much of anywhere.
-------------------- Daedalus, your child is falling and the Labyrinth is calling. Renegade heaps, humanity abandoned Bower of the vowels, you lit them and fanned them. Mercury, the courier, celestial messenger Bed with Dawn, your bride. Arrowhead of Diane, pierce the mind of a man, Tongueless muse of time
|
2newtz
Melungeonoid


Registered: 01/04/07
Posts: 847
Loc: Cumberland Gapt
|
Re: When I was your age... [Re: BurningBeard]
#7981865 - 02/05/08 09:28 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
BurningBeard said: I had an NES when I was a kid.
i had pong. and i can't stand it when people let their 5 yo's play GTA.
-------------------- ~I'm not In a Position to Properly run Anything?~ ~Twice the Fun in Half the Time!~
|
BurningBeard
The IncomparableMr. Flannery

Registered: 01/23/08
Posts: 327
Loc: The bottom of the bottle.
|
Re: When I was your age... [Re: 2newtz]
#7981876 - 02/05/08 09:32 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
2newtz said:
Quote:
BurningBeard said: I had an NES when I was a kid.
i had pong. and i can't stand it when people let their 5 yo's play GTA.
Got me beat there.
Fortunately, these kids aren't permitted to play things outside their age range.
But, again, the problem is the amount of time, not necessarily the content.
-------------------- Daedalus, your child is falling and the Labyrinth is calling. Renegade heaps, humanity abandoned Bower of the vowels, you lit them and fanned them. Mercury, the courier, celestial messenger Bed with Dawn, your bride. Arrowhead of Diane, pierce the mind of a man, Tongueless muse of time
|
Konnrade
↑↑↓↓<--><-->BA




Registered: 09/13/05
Posts: 13,833
Loc: LA Suburbs
Last seen: 8 months, 25 days
|
Re: When I was your age... [Re: BurningBeard]
#7981907 - 02/05/08 09:43 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
|
|
For kids with ADD/ADHD, or just with slothish parents, videogames often seem to become "mother's little helper". Here Mr. Gameboy, get him off my back for a couple hours.
Okay, games are fun and all, I play them way too much myself, but starting young like that is likely to cause a problem. I used to sit on my ass playing Sonic the Hedgehog for hours. Sure I'd go outside and play football with my friends and such too, but still... look what I do now, sit on my ass and play TF2 for a few hours. The ability to be constantly entertained and involved in a pass-time is addictive, and can easily grow into a bad habit. It's much worse than TV, really. Getting used to it at a young age, when you do have the free time for it, makes you likely to stay used to it at an older age when you really do have much better things to do.
The compromise? Educational software. Things like (when I was growing up) The Lost Mind of Dr. Brain... Logic excercises, memory games, things that stimulate kids to grow intellectually and happen to be really damned fun as well. I don't see as many of those anymore, and the ones I have seen really suck pretty damn hard both as games and as teaching tools. Educational TV is a blessing, as well. Why did I do so well in science classes? Two words: discovery channel.
--------------------
I find your lack of faith disturbing
|
WhiskeyClone
Not here


Registered: 06/25/01
Posts: 16,509
Loc: Longitudinal Center of Canada ...
|
Re: When I was your age... [Re: BurningBeard]
#7981909 - 02/05/08 09:43 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
|
|
Not to knock your friends, but I see it as a parenting problem, not a technology problem. I grew up with a computer and various video games platforms in the house and I played outside a LOT! If I was being a bum, my parents would kick me off the computer and I'd have to do something else.
I am not a parent, but I don't think kids should have laptops or computers in their rooms. Even TVs.
-------------------- Welcome evermore to gods and men is the self-helping man. For him all doors are flung wide: him all tongues greet, all honors crown, all eyes follow with desire. Our love goes out to him and embraces him, because he did not need it. ~ R.W. Emerson, "Self-Reliance"
|
Irdamage
Autobot


Registered: 11/19/05
Posts: 1,491
Loc: Canada
Last seen: 7 years, 1 month
|
Re: When I was your age... [Re: BurningBeard]
#7981924 - 02/05/08 09:47 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
|
|
My best bet would be what my father did for me if he didn't like the amount of time I would play on a game system, he would send me out of the house and say "Find your mates or find something to do for a few hours". Honestly as much as it frustrated me at the time it was probably much better that I was doing something physical and productive outdoors rather than inside watching a screen.
Besides...after you invest 2 hours of a Saturday afternoon building a fort in the woods, you tend to want to keep going.
|
BurningBeard
The IncomparableMr. Flannery

Registered: 01/23/08
Posts: 327
Loc: The bottom of the bottle.
|
Re: When I was your age... [Re: WhiskeyClone]
#7981952 - 02/05/08 09:56 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
WhiskeyClone said: Not to knock your friends, but I see it as a parenting problem, not a technology problem. I grew up with a computer and various video games platforms in the house and I played outside a LOT! If I was being a bum, my parents would kick me off the computer and I'd have to do something else.
I am not a parent, but I don't think kids should have laptops or computers in their rooms. Even TVs.
Fortunately (and I should have mentioned it before) they have them off by 6PM... which, assuming they get maximum time, is only lik e two and a half hours.
But I won't argue your point. I just feel super-awkward telling them how to raise kids when I have none of my own. You know?
But it's just so bizarre the way they gravitate towards the stuff.
I mean, I loved games... I really loved games. I was obsessed with games. But I still felt compelled to go outside. They do not.
And ... no comp in the room
-------------------- Daedalus, your child is falling and the Labyrinth is calling. Renegade heaps, humanity abandoned Bower of the vowels, you lit them and fanned them. Mercury, the courier, celestial messenger Bed with Dawn, your bride. Arrowhead of Diane, pierce the mind of a man, Tongueless muse of time
|
manyc
♫♪♫♪♫♪♫♪♫


Registered: 01/03/04
Posts: 571
Loc: Axis Mundi
|
Re: When I was your age... [Re: BurningBeard]
#7981966 - 02/05/08 10:00 AM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
|
|
Knowing myself, and the things I did and saw on the internet when my parents foolishly gave me my own room and computer when I was like 13... my son is never having a computer in his room while he lives with me unless he buys that shit on his own.
And he best know how to wipe out the history on the family computer before I get home and check that shit.
--------------------
Hemp could Save the World. "There is no flag that is large enough, to hide the shame of a man in cuffs." -Serj Tankian Know Thyself. "If the words 'life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness' don't include the right to experiment with your own consciousness, then the Declaration of Independence isn't worth the hemp it was written on." -Terence Mckenna
|
belligerent
Degenerate stoner




Registered: 10/31/06
Posts: 526
Loc: Hicksville, CA
|
Re: When I was your age... [Re: BurningBeard]
#7982704 - 02/05/08 01:28 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
|
|
Keep in mind too, that there aren't as many places for kids to just go run around outside anymore. Video games are part of the problem, but a lot of these kids would rather go ride bikes and play catch if they could.
My apartment complex has started writing up kids who are outside playing without adult supervision, even if they are in front of their own apt. with their mom looking out the window. The parent has to physically be outside for the kid to even throw a football around.
|
Konnrade
↑↑↓↓<--><-->BA




Registered: 09/13/05
Posts: 13,833
Loc: LA Suburbs
Last seen: 8 months, 25 days
|
Re: When I was your age... [Re: belligerent]
#7982830 - 02/05/08 01:59 PM (15 years, 11 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
belligerent said: Keep in mind too, that there aren't as many places for kids to just go run around outside anymore. Video games are part of the problem, but a lot of these kids would rather go ride bikes and play catch if they could.
My apartment complex has started writing up kids who are outside playing without adult supervision, even if they are in front of their own apt. with their mom looking out the window. The parent has to physically be outside for the kid to even throw a football around.
the fuck is that? That's sad, really sad. Neither my parents nor the neighbor kids' parents were outside when we were playing, just left the blinds open and kept an eye out the window. If Michael Jackson walks by and offers the kids candy, the parents are gonna notice.
Make it an involved process for parents to allow kids to play outside and that activity is boned.
--------------------
I find your lack of faith disturbing
|
|